Date: November 21, 2024 Time: 17:15 PM Venue: Aula 3.1.5, Leonardo Campus

Abstract: Misinformation is a pervasive feature of the modern life – much of it scientific. Many of the sources appeal to a sense of intellectual hubris inviting the reader to “Do your own research?” using a mixture of plausible arguments and cherry-picked evidence. In reality, living in a complex society where everyone is ever more dependent on the expertise of others, only experts are capable of evaluating the evidence. Our sole choice then is to evaluate the source, but few have been taught the foundational capabilities or knowledge required for this task. It will be argued that defending society against the virus of misinformation requires a focus on the social practices of science that enable the production of reliable knowledge, digital media literacy, and the fostering of a sense of epistemic humility. The report “Science Education in an Age of Misinformation” produced by a group of experts led by the speaker sought to address this issue – as has the work of other researchers. This talk will explore the nature of the problem and what might be done to address this issue.

Jonathan Osborne is the Kamalchari Professor of Science Education in the School of Education and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. His research focus is a mix of work on policy and pedagogy in the teaching and learning of science. In the policy domain, he is interested in exploring students’ attitudes to science and how school science can be made more worthwhile and engaging – particularly for those who will not continue with the study of science. In pedagogy, his focus has been on making the case for the role of argumentation in science education both as a means of improving the use of a more dialogic approach to teaching science and improving student understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry. He has worked on four major projects in argumentation. The first from 1999-2002 was on “Enhancing the Quality of Argument in School Science Education”. From this they developed the IDEAS (Ideas, Evidence and Argument in Science Education) materials to support teacher professional learning funded by the Nuffield Foundation. From 2007-2010 he was co-PI on the project “Learning to Teach Ideas, Evidence and Argument in School Science” which explored how to build teachers competency with the use of this pedagogy in four schools. Most recently, he has worked with Mark Wilson of UCB on a project to develop and test a learning progression for Argumentation in science.

His other area of interest in pedagogy is the teaching of reading and the facilitation of discussion. He has published a book entitled “Language and Literacy in Science Education” and he is just completing a five year IES funded project – “Catalyzing Comprehension through Discussion and Debate” exploring how the teaching of reading in science can be supported. Finally, much science, if not more, is learned outside the classroom and how young people learn in that environment and what it has to offer formal education is another focus of his work; he was one of the partners in the NSF funded Centre for Informal Learning and Schools (2002-7) and has several publications in this field.